As many of you already know, I have been battling renal disease my whole life. For the last six years I have been on nocturnal (night) dialysis, three times a week due to end-stage renal disease. My doctors recently told me that I will need a kidney transplant. This will be my third transplant. The last one lasted 21 years, and I am hopeful that this transplant will allow me to live a long and healthy life.

I am on nocturnal dialysis because I currently work full time, am on my own, and have mortgage and other expenses. I also work to keep my medical insurance. I am currently registered at both UC Davis and UCSF for a kidney transplant.

Even though I have medical insurance the expense of transplantation is huge and there will be many out of pocket expenses such as copays, deductibles, costly immunosuppressant medications, and travel costs to and from the transplant center. I cannot do this alone, so I am asking for your help.

To help with this financial burden, a fundraising campaign in my honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a nonprofit organization that has been assisting the transplant community for 30 years. All donations are tax-deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Southwest Kidney Transplant Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Please consider making an end-of-year tax-deductible donation today.

I am grateful for your support.

Raul Salcedo
209-579-0545